KALAMAZOO -- Several Kalamazoo-area life-sciences companies may be household names here -- MPI, Pfizer, Stryker, to name a few.

But a little company operating in the former offices of Gibson Guitar in Kalamazoo's Northside neighborhood has quietly become one of the fastest-growing biotech firms in the area.

Forensic Fluids, which does oral-fluid drug screening for employers, the legal system and doctors, doubled its sales from 2007 to 2008 and is set to more than double its sales again this year.

While the sales figures are still relatively small -- revenues are expected to be about $3 million this year -- the future looks bright as the advantages of oral-fluid drug testing catch on, said Bridget Lorenz Lemberg, the company's owner, lab director and chief toxicologist.

"We're definitely unique," she said recently during a tour of the company's 5,600-square-foot facility.

"We test for more drugs than any other lab in the U.S," she said.

Many large labs will test for eight to 10 drugs, but Forensic Fluids tests for more than 200 compounds.

And it's picking up recognition: The company has been named by the Edward Lowe Foundation to this year's list of 50 Companies to Watch in Michigan.
Saliva swabs

Compared to the traditional urine or blood tests commonly used to screen for illegal drugs, oral-fluid testing is a fairly new technology.

Lemberg began using the method in 2001 while working for a commercial drug-testing lab.

"I was one of the first people in the country to do oral-fluids testing," she said.

In 2005, after moving to Kalamazoo with her husband, Lemberg started Forensic Fluids because she saw an opportunity to provide fuller, more accurate results via tests that are more difficult to cheat on.

"There are lots of ways to cheat a urine sample," she said, because no one observes the person giving the sample.

But with a saliva swab, she said, "I can watch you put a stick in your mouth."

Using saliva to test for drugs is not necessarily better than other methods, said Deidre Holtzhauser, the company's sales account representative. But Forensic Fluids has invested in superior technology that allows illegal substances to be detected at very low concentrations, she said.

"And we're one of the fastest labs in the country," Holtzhauser said.

Hiring scientists

The company employs 13 workers and has four positions open.

Lemberg said she would like to hire former Pfizer scientists for the jobs. Forensic Fluids has received $150,000 in low-interest loans from the state's $8 million Pfizer Asset Retention Fund to offset some of the cost of hiring three scientists.

Ron Kitchens, chief executive officer of Southwest Michigan First, said there are still ex-Pfizer workers around who are looking for jobs at life-sciences companies.

"We're still seeing people who are coming into the system," he said.

Forensic Fluids also is expanding, with a plan to move in May into an additional 3,800 square feet next door to its lab in the Kalamazoo Enterprise Center, 225 Parsons St.
Growing market

In addition to the well-known pre-employment drug screenings and compliance monitoring for people on court probation, drug testing increasingly is being used by doctors to ensure patients being treated for pain or psychiatric conditions are taking their medications.

Lemberg said Forensic Fluid's technology provides more detailed information that doctors, the legal system and state agencies can use to better assess compliance.

The company hopes to make a bigger dent in the Michigan market, Lemberg said.

"We actually do more drug testing for the state of Indiana than for the state of Michigan," she said.